I have an idea,
I was watching an old news reel about Western Union and the services they provided the other day. In the newsreel they talked about a 'coin operated' phone dedicated only to talk to Western Union to send Telegrams. You can see it at archive.org search for Western Union. Just a thought.
Louis

Hi Randy,
The Space Needle gift shop on the bottom floor has a small model of the needle you can purchase. I have one. Also you MUST ride the monorail if you can I drove it as a part time job back in '95. If you are in Pioneer Square you can walk to Westlake Center and take the Monorail to Seattle Center. Since you are a fan of worlds fairs the grounds of Seattle Center still has a few structures left over from the '62 fair and is a great place to spend the afternoon. A must while at Seattle Centert is to visit the Pacific Science Center. Which is the United States Pavilion from the '62 Fair.
Since you are in Pioneer Square, take the underground city tour. it is a lot of fun too. Hope you have a great vacation!! if you need any more ideas you can e-mail me at mailto:loudifazio@omnisky.net or after 5 E-mail me at work today..... mailto:ldifazio@king5.com
Kindest Regards,
Louis
[This message has been edited by Louis Di Fazio (edited 07-23-2003).]

Sorry for the delay....I had to find an image hosting service. I haven't had a chance to convert or extract stills from the video yet but I have some stills I can post from my photo album for now to wet your appetite.
In this first picture is the front left side of the building showing the entry door in the following pictures notice the 'carport' overhang
In this one is the front of the building with my back to Union TPK.
In this one I am in the back of the building in the parking lot where the underground Bowling Alley is just below
It will be a few more days but I will get them posted. In the meantime ENJOY!
Louis

The Underground bowling alley has been reborn! The old Sterling Bowl has been purchased by the fine folks at STRIKE, a company who is dedicated in restoring old bowling alleys. I haven’t had a chance to visit the facility but I have seen from their web site <a href="http://www.strikelongisland.com" target="_blank">www.strikelongisland.com</a> that they have kept the ‘60s feel of the facility but put in modern touches inside. They have torn out 20 lanes making way for the world’s first underground Go-Kart track where you can race at speeds of up to 30 mph! This brings the lane count from 56 to 36. State of the art Audio/Video system showing videos and playing music played by local DJ’s. A new redesigned restaurant and sushi bar. And increased the bar count from one to four. If this is not enough they have added a VIP room where the race course can be viewed and can be rented for private events. From the look on their web site it retained the ‘60s feel however there are not a lot of pictures to be viewed yet since I believe the website is a ‘work in progress’ If anyone lives close to New Hyde Park stop by and let the rest of us know.
I have an 8 minute video of the ‘old’ Sterling Bowl I shot the last time I was visiting NY shortly before it was to be closed down. I can convert it to an MPG if anyone is interested in viewing it. Also once I have it sampled I can take some screen grabs and post them here if you guys like.
Check out the other links of their facilities it is worth a look.
Kindest Regards,
Louis

Talking about turnpikes, One turnpike not to forget is the New Jersey Turnpike. I traveled the turnpike about 10 years ago on my way to Atlantic City and I found some interesting points about that particular roadway.
* On part of the turnpike it is separated into 4 sections allowing the cars to drive on the inner two most sections and the commercial traffic to drive on the outer two sections. It is great not having to compete with tractor trailers.
* The Speed limit signs are Digital allowing to change speed on different sections depending on weather/driving conditions. Included is a neon ‘status board’ explaining the reason for the reduction.
* As you got close to Atlantic city the Casinos have employee parking in the center median. This is the only place I have seen this.
There is some great information at <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/" target="_blank">http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/</a> on the operation and history.
Take Care,
Louis

I have a few ideas I would like to contribute for the 40th anniversary. How about a 40th anniversary ‘convention’ at the Terrace in the park restaurant It would be a perfect place to hold a convention not only for its location but for its size. Here are some ideas I was kicking around. In one of the wings we could have the memorabilia of World’s Fair collectors. Almost like a Disneyana convention. Not only can collectors set up booths but get our affiliates of this forum involved to set up displays or booths about their sites. I am not sure how many collectors are out there but maybe we can get the Queens Museum, and Hall of Science involved. They must have some artifacts tucked away in their basements to share. We have enough talented people here or they have connections of individuals who could host lectures throughout the day on experiences or facts about the fair. Since we are meeting in a ‘Worlds Fair Building’ maybe tours of the building can be arranged explaining about its history and the use of its heliport. This can also be the starting point to organize walking tours of the park visiting locations of different pavilions. I heard classic food was called for, well since the Terrace In the Park is a banquet facility maybe we can work with them to come up with a menu with Foods from the Fair for catered meals. Also maybe the folks at BBQ Productions can have another showing of their movie. This is a rough idea that could be developed more. However the tie to an original World’s Fair building would generate interest and we can use original artwork/pictures of the building in the ads. Maybe we can work with Marie to get discounted rates in the motel. This way we can generate a package deal with the convention and lodging. I believe the success of the project is to make an ‘event’ of all of these activities and to spread it out over a weekend. Finally to keep the cost to a minimum maybe we can get some corporate sponsorship especially from some of the corporations who participated in the fair. Anyone else have any more ideas? I believe with all of the talented people here we can pull this event off, or even to lay the groundwork for a future Worlds Fair!
[This message has been edited by Louis Di Fazio (edited 06-14-2003).]

Sounds exciting, I will be taking the family to Southern California in November to visit my folks. I would be intrested in getting together. It sounds like a lot of fun if we can get a group of 'west coasters' together.

My father who worked for the Bell System in the 60's-80's told me that the plug in transformer to have the lighted dial for the princess phone was an optional upgrade which costed more money per month. Just like today with diferent 'tier' packages for cable television.

Seeing how the east coast got hit with this monster storm I can’t help remembering the winter of ’77 or was it ’78 where in New Hyde Park and most of New England got bombed with snow. I remember 3-4 feet of powder. The snow was level with the stoop for the back door. School was closed for days. My father and I had to climb through the window to shovel the walkways since the snow blocked the doorway. Power was out for three days and we had to put food in crates of snow which we stored outside to prevent it from spoiling. Being 9 years old it was great setting up forts and having snowball fights.

Being the technology geek I am I thought I would tackle this puzzle. After a search on the internet I came across this link <a href="http://www.cicaccess.com/testframe.html?main.html" target="_blank">http://www.cicaccess.com/testframe.html?main.html</a> this company located in Amityville Long Island, not too far from the fairgrounds. They have been providing access control technology since 1961. I have sent them the following letter to see if they can give us any insight in the technology used:
Dear Sirs:
I belong to a news group called Peace Through Understanding, a group dedicated in sharing and preserving the memory of the 1964-65 New York Worlds Fair. There is an old card reader technology problem that is stumping us in which we hope you can give us some insight to. During the World's Fair in 1964-65 was there technology available to allow 'gate access' with an access card, and if so what was the technology used. We are all stumped because by looking at the employee pass it indicates to the holder of the card to 'insert here' which indicates to us it was used to unlock a device for entry. On the card it appears to be no magnetic track, which I don't think was used until the late '70s. It also has no holes punched in the card for the reader to read which was the common practice used in that time period. I have a link to our site <a href="http://www.nywf64.com/ubb/Forum19/HTML/000004.html" target="_blank">http://www.nywf64.com/ubb/Forum19/HTML/000004.html</a> which has a front and back scan of the pass for you to take a look at. I E-Mailed you folks because on your website it indicated you were providing Access Control technology since 1961 and seemed like the ideal group to help us solve this mystery. I would like to thank you in advance for any help you can bring our way.
Kindest Regards,
Louis Di Fazio, and the gang at Peace Through Understanding
Personally, the only technology I can think of is that when you insert the card into the reader a ‘white’ light would shine on the card and there would be a photo resister to pick up the ‘reflected light’. I know that different colors would reflect different densities (color temperatures) which through a photo resistor would convert the color temperature to a resistance. In the 1960s with the invention of transistor technology, it would not be to difficult to build a circuit to ‘look’ for a certain resistance to unlock a device. It is just a thought.
Take Care,
Louis
[This message has been edited by Louis Di Fazio (edited 11-21-2002).]

In my home town of New Hyde Park, NY which is about 10 miles from FMCP there is an old bowling alley named Sterling Bowl. This bowling alley is unique because the more I think about it the more it has similarities to the Underground home. This bowling alley is completely underground, all that is above ground is a small building that serves as a lobby. The exterior loosely resembles the entry building of the underground home. Once when you enter the high ceiling lobby, which has the ‘half bowl’ recessed lights (Reminds me of the original ceiling of Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland designed in the early ‘60s). This lobby building is approximately 50’ X 50’ square and has a staircase or an elevator which will bring you underground to the bowling alley. The alleys architecture appear to be from the early ‘60s with the interior using Terrazzo (like the New York State Pavilions map), the railing on the stairs was just like the railing on the stairs of America Sings at Disneyland (old COP), the elevator is still the original complete with windows in the doors and the ‘big’ thumb buttons, and the use of blues and oranges for the color scheme. The parking lot is at street level which encompasses the ‘roof’ of the alley. When walking around in the alley is almost like getting back to the ‘60s. I know there hasn’t been a major remodel job because I frequently visited this alley when I was a kid and I visited it a few years ago and it is the same as I remembered. This has always been in the back of my mind and I can’t help wondering if this has an Underground Home connection? If any of you guys that lives by FMCP wants to take a little road trip it is in New Hyde Park at the intersection of Lakeville road and Union Turnpike, next to the Lake Success shopping center. If any of you guys pays a visit let me know what you think
Kindest Regards,
Louis
[This message has been edited by Louis Di Fazio (edited 10-26-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Louis Di Fazio (edited 10-26-2002).]

If you guys want to see more of the 'Space Age' architecture there is a great site at roadsidepeek.com
The Space age or 'Googie' architecture became very popular especialy in Southern California in the early 60s (Maybe the new Disney Tomorrowland influence?)
Check it out! it is a great site